The street lights in the county town are still well maintained, although most of them are somewhat old, emitting a dim yellow light that only illuminates the area directly underneath. A few, probably recently replaced, are much brighter.
The trees lining the streets aren’t very tall, making the narrow streets appear much more spacious.
A motorcycle roared in from afar, then quickly faded, restoring the tranquility of the street.
The girl on the back seat of the motorcycle hid her face behind Yan Fei. The wind blew past her ears as the streetlights behind slowly receded and the headlights of the motorcycle burst through the darkness ahead, causing a strange calm in Miss Xu Xiaoyan’s heart.
A year ago, she was an ordinary girl at the First High School, dreaming of going to university and changing her destiny. But life is unpredictable, and she never imagined that a year on, she would just have had dinner with the county party secretary.
The feeling was very strange, as if her destiny started taking an unpredictable turn since she met this guy called Yan Fei.
Facing a monthly purchase contract of one million five hundred thousand from Hong Kong, unsurprisingly, Yan Fei’s small request was agreed to by Secretary Jiao.
Isn’t the concern about standing tall and attracting the wind? Isn’t it about keeping secrets?
In Secretary Jiao’s eyes, these concerns were trivial. Secretary Jiao was not a fool, so-called secrecy was only temporary, and the news could not be hidden for too long. Besides, when it inevitably gets out, nothing that should have been there would be missing.
Importantly, the cattle farm hasn’t started supplying yet. Once the partnership stabilizes and the news gets out, the impact will be even more significant.
Many places start heavily publicizing as soon as they receive investment intentions. However, the actual effects are disappointing. In the early stages, everyone celebrates, but in the end, when the investment results are not as expected, people start to worry. Even worse, some investments do not materialize at all, leaving the local government empty-handed.
That’s the best-case scenario. Some investments turn out to be scams. The local government invests a lot of resources, just to find out they’ve been robbed. This would be an additional hardship for impoverished areas.
Now there’s a local company that is able to cooperate with Hong Kong. This is no doubt a godsend. Not to mention this isn’t an uncertain future investment, but a solid cooperation with the prepayment cleared three months in advance. Is there a more sincere cooperation than this?
Once both parties start supplying and have been cooperating for a while, the news will eventually get out. At that time, facing a company that has been cooperatively working with Hong Kong, maybe we could apply for some preferential policies. I believe the city will certainly lend us substantial support.
No, maybe we should start preparing quietly now. When the news spreads, the effect won’t be as good.
There are so many preferential policies for investments in the city, like the three deductions and two exemptions. It’s illogical that the local businesses are disadvantaged when so many preferential policies are provided for outside capital. I could totally apply for protective measures for local private enterprises from above...
After dinner, Secretary Jiao returned home and sat in his study, thinking about how to apply for some preferential policies for Yan Fei’s cattle farm. Little did he know, that guy had no good intentions. He was about to use Secretary Jiao as a shield!
The distance from the county town to Sancha River is just over twenty miles, not a long ride, even with the terrible roads.
Once home, Yan Fei was as if nothing had happened and started boiling water for washing and sleeping. Miss Xu Xiaoyan, helping out beside, couldn’t help mumble, "Don’t you have anything to say about tonight’s events?"
"What events?" Yan Fei, striking a match, was puzzled.
"Our dinner just now was hosted by the county party secretary!"
"He just treated us to a bowl of pulled noodles, with a couple of mediocre dishes. It didn’t cost much..." Yan Fei’s thinking was totally off from hers.
"Forget it, I am not talking to you..." Knowing that it was pointless to argue with him, she decided to start looking around the kitchen.
Truthfully, she wasn’t angry, but rather fond of gullible Yan Fei. No matter what happens, he remains calm. Once things reach him, they seem to no longer be a big deal!
"Stop looking, I’ve put the leftover fried fish in the covered basin, complete with a strainer. I’ll fry it for you later!" Yan Fei said as he watched her.
The girl rummaging around the kitchen immediately blushed. Having dinner with the county party secretary was a big event, but Yan Fei was too busy discussing business to notice, so she didn’t eat much.
After the dinner, they returned to the family members’ yard of the fertilizer factory, where everyone had already eaten their dinner. She was too shy to admit she was still hungry.
After Yan Fei finished discussing matters with his father, she followed him home. The bumpy ride made her even hungrier. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be looking around in a kitchen she sees every day...